October 2025

UK and European pension funds laying the groundwork for VC surge

UK and European pension funds are laying the groundwork to become a more significant source of venture capital (VC) funding, according to a report from Venture Connections, European Women in VC and Pensions for Purpose, with Nordic pension funds the most active, despite growing momentum in the UK. The report, Mapping Pension Funds Attitudes to Venture & Growth in Europe, suggested that pension funds have the chance to help savers benefit and support long-term economic renewal, estimating that while only...

Pension funds should invest in venture capital for climate benefits, argues report

Large European pension funds could support the development of new sustainable and digital products by investing in venture capital, argues a report by industry networks Venture Connections, European Women in VC and Pensions for Purpose. Pension funds could “channel billions into climate tech” and are “uniquely positioned to match the long timelines of the energy transition”, Pensions for Purpose chair and founder Karen Shackleton tells Sustainable Views. If European pension funds allocated 5 per cent of existing private equity investments to...

August 2025

1 in 5 Europeans will retire in poverty without urgent reform, EU watchdog warns

Poverty in old age will be the norm for a large chunk of Europe's population unless current retirement policies undergo deep reform, the EU's workplace pensions regulator has warned. "One in five Europeans is already at risk of living in poverty at old age," said Petra Hielkema, chief of the Frankfurt-based European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority. "[That's] a ridiculously high percentage, frankly. And if you then look at women, they have a 30 percent larger risk for that," she told...

IORPs in Focus Report 2024

By European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority This report outlines the latest market developments in the occupational pensions sector, with a focus on IORPs and their cross-border arrangements. A factsheet summarizing the key findings accompanies the publication, providing a visual overview of the main trends in Europe's IORP sector for interested readers. Get the report here

July 2025

Ranked: Countries With the Highest & Lowest Pensions in Europe

Rich Western economies like Iceland, Luxembourg, and Norway can afford annual pensions north of €30,000 per retiree. Poland and Hungary spend a big slice of GDP on pensions, yet smaller tax bases keep payouts below €7,000. The seven-fold gap between Iceland and Hungary proves pension size tracks economic heft, not political will. everal generations are already saying they won’t retire due to financial anxieties. But what about today’s retirees? How are they making ends meet, and what do current-day pensions actually look like? This chart visualizes the latest figures...

June 2025

Pensioner poverty in Europe: Which countries have the highest rates?

In most European countries, the average income of people over 65 is lower than that of the total population, according to the OECD. In several cases, elderly incomes fall below 80% of the national average, contributing to significantly high poverty rates among pensioners. So, how do these levels of financial precarity vary across Europe? In which countries do pensioners face the highest levels of poverty? And how does elderly income compare to the national average? Income poverty rates measure the proportion...

‘Scared of being pushed back into the closet’: Europe’s new LGBT+ retirement communities

By Estelle Nilsson-Julien For many older LGBTQ+ the prospect of moving into a retirement home is a worrying thought. But in Sweden, Spain and France new retirement communities for LGBTQ+ seniors are proving a hit. "Care home staff don't realise that they have LGBTQ+ residents - but based on population estimates we know they do. It's just that residents don't feel comfortable or safe being identified as LGBTQ+", explains Professor Paul Willis, an expert in social care. Older members of the LGBTQ+ community can "be at higher...

Immigration and Adult Children’s Care for Elderly Parents: Evidence from Western Europe

By Andrea Berlanda, Elisabetta Lodigiani & Lorenzo Rocco In this paper, we use the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), complemented with register data on the share of the foreign population in the European regions, to examine the effects of migration on the level of informal care provided by children to their senior parents. Our main results show that migration decreases informal care among daughters with a university degree, while it increases the provision of informal care...

Five trends to watch in the European pension risk transfer market

The strong momentum in the UK pension risk transfer (PRT) market is a well-known and well-developed trend. The last few years have been highly active in terms of both deal flow and new entrants as participants maintain a bullish position on the opportunity. As a provider of longevity reinsurance, we help insurers, as well as pension schemes, execute buy-ins and buyouts to manage the implications of changing life expectancies. This gives us an interesting perspective on what is taking place in the...

PensionsEurope’s Position Paper on the European Commission’s Omnibus Simplification Proposal

By Pension Europe PensionsEurope welcomes the European Commission (EC) initiative which aims to align crucial EU legislation concerning Sustainable Finance. PensionsEurope firmly believes that the competitiveness of the EU economy is vital, it is possible to reduce the administrative burden without undermining the EU's policy objectives regarding the green transition. However, any simplification should be carefully balanced to ensure that material sustainability information on risks, opportunities, and impacts-critical to informed investor decision-making-is preserved. Accordingly, the Omnibus package should aim to streamline...